Brow Beat

The Cutest Part of the VMAs Was Definitely When the Olympic Gymnasts Met Beyoncé

Obviously Laurie Hernandez was the first to hug Queen Bey.

Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images

Going all the way to the VMAs and not meeting Beyoncé would probably be a lot like going all the way to the Olympics and not winning gold. The dashed hopes, the so-close factor! Luckily the Team USA gymnasts wouldn’t know anything about such things. After nabbing a team gold earlier this month in Rio de Janeiro, Sunday night at MTV’s Video Music Awards they presented the award for Best Female Video to the one and only Beyoncé.

Laurie Hernandez, Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, and Madison Kocian traded in their usual leotards for cute cocktailwear for their appearance on the Madison Square Garden stage. (Teammate Gabby Douglas, who’s lately had to deal with a lot of criticism, was home sick, Biles announced.) The four giggled through their spiel and announcing the nominees, before realizing at the same time as all of us watching at home that they really and truly would get to meet Moonman winner Queen Bey. It’s go time, ladies! They may be able to execute incredibly difficult tumbling passes under enormous pressure, but the prospect of meeting Beyoncé is enough to transform anyone into a sputtering dork.

So how’d they do? Beyoncé towered over the tiny gymnasts, but in a nonthreatening way, like Glinda the Good Witch meeting the munchkins and benevolently offering to outfit them in Ivy Park activewear. Just like when they met Zac Efron, Laurie Hernandez was the first to go in for a hug. But everyone got her moment to bask in Beyoncé’s glow. I think that’s called sticking the landing.